Good news, bad news

When I was a little girl and someone would say, 'I have good news and I have bad news, which would you like first?' I would say good news. I think at the time I liked the instant gratification of the more pleasurable news. As I got older things changed and when I got into my late teenage years I wanted the bad news first. It's kind of like pulling off a bandaid fast. It hurts for a moment then the pain quickly goes away. You also hear the good news after and you can end on a good note. That being said, bad news first...

For those of you that don't yet know Ethan had an IV in his right ankle that was placed prior to surgery. At 14 days post op his nurse saw that it had infiltrated and his leg and foot was swollen. The IV had been transfusing lipids and when she pulled out the iv some lipids had come out of the site. This was last Tuesday. His leg was swollen throughout the rest of the week but seemed to be going down in his leg. On Friday his foot was swollen and red. We had been transferred out of the critical care unit and into the step down unit which meant that home was around the corner. Unfortunately his foot got worse and nurses, doctors and surgeons were inspecting it quite frequently. His heart surgeon Dr Kallin came into take a peak and he was furious. He had Ethan immediately taken back to CTICU so he foot and leg could be more closely monitored and so Ethan could have one on one care.
Today the foot is still red, shiny and swollen. Ethan is in pain and very uncomfortable. They have him on two different antibiotics to help clear the infection and he has a fever. They believe he has cellulitis which is very painful and can last one to two weeks. They are concerned about the swelling turning into compartment syndrome which would require an additional operation.

Aside from this, Ethan is not doing well with his feeding. He still has some fluid in his lungs and when he coughs up the mucus he swallows it and then throws up all of his food. The doctors are monitoring this very closely and are talking about sending him down to radiology to see if he has digestive issues or just reflux. We have never had feeding issues with Ethan before so this is very frustrating. Especially since he is hungry and has a strong desire to feed.

The good news:

Another echocardiogram was done and Ethan's left ventricle has grown and is of adequate size to function. His heart is functioning well and from a cardiac standpoint he would be able to go home.

Even though his foot is swollen and infected his foot still has good oxygen saturation levels and a pulse. (This means that oxygenated blood is still making it's way down there.

That's all I really have for now. Please continue to keep our little one in your prayers.